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Ghosts of the Scofield Mine Disaster

On May 1, 1900, an explosion tore through the Winters Quarter mine near Scofield, Utah. At least 200 men died in the Scofield Mine disaster, some from the explosion, others from the suffocating gases that followed. The accident left 107 widows and 268 fatherless children, and it wasn’t long before terrified miners began reporting ghosts.

On January 19, 1901, Montana’s Anaconda Standard published the following:

“A headless ghost has been the cause of a great deal of trouble for the Pleasant Valley Coal company in its Winter Quarter mine in Utah. It has frequently been seen by the miners in the various drifts. It walks about the mine at all seasons, and no one knows when he will meet him or glance over his shoulder to see the headless one standing close behind him. The miners, most of whom are Slavs and Hungarians, are so frightened by its presence and by certain supernatural noises and manifestations that several times they have been on the point of stopping work.”

It seems the paranormal activity wasn’t limited to the mine. On February 3, 1901, The Salt Lake Herald published an article about eerie lights in the nearby Scofield cemetery.

“It is stated that blue lights are to be seen any dark night in the cemetery, and that many of the miners are of the opinion that these lights are the ghosts of the dead miners. And, furthermore, at a certain hour every day, from 12 to 2 o’clock, crackings and hissings are to be heard in the mine and many of the men refuse to work in the mine during that period.”

Believe or not, strange sounds continue to this day. Visitors camping near the mine report hearing crying, moaning, and shouts from unseen people. Some speculate it’s the voices of the victims’ widows, weeping for the dead and all that they lost. Others blame the eerie sounds on the wind or people camping nearby. What do you think? Do the ghosts of the Scofield Mine disaster linger on, exactly 117 years later?